Maya Rudolph's Unaired Oprah Winfrey 'Saturday Night Live' Sketch

I never really liked Maya Rudolph that much while she was a cast member of “Saturday Night Live.” Her impressions were typically too over the top, and her sketches tended to run too long. However, since she left the show I have become increasingly enamored with her, first from her movie roles (Away We Go, Bridesmaids) and then “Up All Night,” once the writers figured out how to tone down her character. Like Josh, I also thought her episode of “SNL” last week was the best of the season (although, I’d stop short of the saying it was the “best in years,” because “years” would include a couple of great Justin Timberlake eps, the first Jon Hamm episode, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s hosting stint).

Anyway, you might have noticed during her episode that “Weekend Update” was unusually short (which is part of the reason why it was so unusually good). Turns out, there was a segment cut from the show after dress rehearsal in which Maya reprised her Oprah impression. The sketch itself was OK — like Maya of old, it was too over the top and too long — but it’s worth the watch just to see Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler fail to keep a straight face, plus it provides an amusing glimpse of what rehearsals look like.